Sleepovers
by Char-chan
Summary: Tina gets to see what Artie's home life is like after their parents suddenly go away on a vacation together, leaving the two young Gleeks home alone for a three-day weekend. Some romance eventually ensues.
1. Chapter 1

**Title: Sleepovers**

**Summary: Tina gets to see what Artie's home life is like after their parents suddenly go away on a vacation together, leaving the two young Gleeks home alone for a three-day weekend.**

**Author: Charlie-chan**

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They both could not believe the situation they were currently in. There they were, sitting together at the kitchen table, leaning over the speaker phone with both sets of their parents on the other end while they tried to reassure them that they were doing fine and no need to worry about them. Wishing them a fun time and saying their "I love yous and farewells", Artie clicked the button on the phone off and turned his head towards Tina and smiled awkwardly.

"Well, that wasn't too weird now, was it? Guess we should order that pizza before it gets too late, huh?"

But it _was _weird. And they both knew it.

The whole situation began a few days earlier.

Artie and his family were in the middle of eating dinner when his mother suddenly stood up and made an announcement.

"Boys, your father and I have been invited to go away on a little vacation for this upcoming three day weekend. Jimmy, I've already set it up with your friend's mom that you can stay at his house while we're gone. Artie, your little school friend, Tina, is going to stay here with you, seeing as it was her parent's that invited us on this vacation with them," and with that she sat back down and continued eating as if nothing happened.

Artie stared at his mother with wide eyes, holding his spoon in front of his face frozen.

"…What?"

His mother glanced up from her plate of food, "Well, you know how we met Mr. and Mrs. Cohen-Chang at your club's Invitational performance a few weeks back, right? Well, we got along so well that they let us in on a time share they have of a cabin in the mountains up north and we decided to have a ski trip together. Isn't that fantastic? And rather than worry about leaving you both home alone by yourselves, we decided it would be best for you two to spend the weekend together and watch over each other since you both are a bit too old for a babysitter."

Artie could not believe the random nonsense he was hearing from his mother's mouth; him _and _Tina alone in his house for three days? I mean, sure they were close friends- at school. They hang out at school all the time before and during Glee club nearly every day but the only time they'd actually hung out outside of school was with the other Glee kids in a big group. He couldn't even imagine the two of them alone; let alone sleeping in the same house alone! His thoughts were suddenly invaded by more intimate thoughts of what that really meant.

"Wait, aren't parents supposed to discourage their kids from being alone with a member of the opposite sex or something?"

"Oh honey, you know I don't have to worry about that with you…" she tightened her lips and looked towards her eldest son suddenly feeling a pang of guilt for saying those words. Artie looked at his mother with hurt eyes and stared down in his lap with a frown. Suddenly he pulled away from the table and wheeled himself as fast as he could into the living room without a word.

"Oh Artie, oh, honey please wait!" his mother jumped up from the table leaving her husband and youngest son with confused looks.

Mrs. Abrams leaned down next to his wheelchair and put her hand on his.

"I didn't mean it like that. I'm so sorry, sweetie.. It's not because of that," she motions towards his lifeless legs, "but because I trust you. You are a very responsible and intelligent young man and I know you two would be careful and make the right choices. I trust you, is all I meant," her hand tightening around his.

Artie lifted his gaze from his lap to his mother's apologetic face, staring hard into her eyes.

Then with a big smile he tells her, "I'll only go along with this all under one condition. You leave us enough money to order out pizza and Chinese food to our heart's desire."

The next day at school was a bit awkward for them both. Once Artie met Tina at their usual rendezvous spot near their lockers, he could tell Tina had the same kind of conversation with her parent's the night before too. She walked slowly towards her wheel-bound friend, grasping her arms tight to her chest and an embarrassing look on her face.

"I take it you heard of our weekend plans?" he asked with his infectious smile on his face.

"Y-y-yeah.. that was s-sure.. sudden.. and r-r-random," smirking down at him with pink tinged cheeks.

They didn't talk much at all that day. She just casually pushed his chair like she usually did but they were both still unsure what to make of the whole situation.

When Glee practice finally came around they sat on opposite sides of the choir room even. Stealing glances at each other they both had so many questions running through their heads- mainly of how this weekend was going to play out.

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**Author notes: I am SUCH a Tartie shipper, hehe. and I have NO idea where this idea came from but I just wanted to give those two some time alone in a non-school environment and see where it will lead to. ;)**

**I'm gonna get this all written out as fast as I can during this horribly looong 2 week hiatus until ep.9-'Wheels', before anything can be confirmed or denied (because I SO know there's gonna be some ArtiexTina action in that episode and I just can not wait :D) **

**So I hope ya'll enjoyed the intro chapter- and please review my lovely readers! ^o^/**


	2. Chapter 2

**Title: Sleepovers - ch.2**

**Summary: Tina gets to see what Artie's home life is like after their parents suddenly go away on a vacation together, leaving the two young Gleeks home alone for a three-day weekend.**

**Author: Charlie-chan**

**Note: *there IS a small spoiler from the upcoming episode "Wheels" mentioned but nothing too plot shattering- just how and when Artie was paralyzed is all***

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It was Friday night and both of Artie and Tina's parents were rushing around outside, packing the car for their trip; both extremely excited about their upcoming vacation. After their parents all hurried out and piled into the Cohen-Chang's minivan, waving goodbyes, Tina shut and locked the front door and turned towards Artie, dropping her black duffle bag on the floor.

"S-s-so.. what do we do now?" She looked down at him awkwardly with an arched eyebrow.

"Well.. it's getting late. Wanna order some pizza and watch a movie?" he asked as he starts to wheel himself towards the kitchen to get to the phone.

"Okay, sure." She followed him into the kitchen area, leaving her bag by the door for now and stealing glances around the house as they passed through.

There were lots of framed photographs of his family on nearly every wall. You could obviously tell how much his parent's loved and cared for their children. But one thing she noticed, was that in every picture that Artie was in, he was in a wheelchair. It was then that she realized that she didn't even know when Artie had become paralyzed. She had only formally met him right before high school started and only just started really getting closer to him a few months prior because of Glee.

Then her eye caught a really old looking Polaroid that didn't have a frame on it but was tucked into the front of another framed photograph. She took a few steps towards it to get a better look and saw it was an image of what looked like a very young Artie without glasses, hanging off the branch of a large oak tree. He was all smiles and was waving towards the camera with his free hand. He looked like he must have been about ten years old or younger..

"That was taken a couple weeks before the accident."

Tina nearly jumped right out of her skin. She was so focused on the picture that she didn't hear Artie roll up behind her when he spoke. She turned around and looked down at his face with a mixed expression of being caught and pity.

"Oh?.."

"It was a really bad car accident when I was eight. My mom came out of it fine, but I've been like this since," he spoke nonchalantly as he motioned towards the chair and his legs. He never really talked about it much more than that. Any more details about what happened and images of the crash and the pain and sadness afterwards would flood his mind and he didn't enjoy those kind of thoughts so he usually kept it to himself. Turning his chair back around and heading towards the kitchen again, he called out over his shoulder, "What kind of pizza do you like?"

Tina hurried after him, stealing one more glance towards the photograph.

"P-p-pepperoni?"

After Artie ordered them a large pepperoni pizza with a liter of Sprite on the side he made his way back into the living room, Tina following silently behind him.

"Well, we can start the movie now while we wait. They said it's gonna take about 25 minutes or so." As they passed the front door he saw her large black duffle bag sitting idly on the floor.

"Oh! Sorry, I guess before we do any of that I should let you put your stuff away and give you a tour of the house, huh?" he said with a sudden realization and a nervous tone to his voice. He'd never really had sleepovers before, let alone with a girl, so he was a little nervous about having someone in the house and wasn't exactly sure how to cater to guests either.

Tina picked up her duffle and continued following him to the back of the house where all the bedrooms were obviously at.

As they passed each thing in the house, Artie would point quickly and mention offhandedly, "my parent's room, their computer slash office room, the piano that no one knows how to play, bathroom, some weird painting of a naked lady, my room and," he stops to reach towards the doorknob of the closed door, "my little brother's room that you'll be staying in."

Swinging the door open he turned to look at her and saw her face had an apprehensive look upon it.

"Oh, don't worry! My mom cleaned it real good and replaced all the bedding and everything. No icky germs in here," he told her with an amused tone to his voice. She set her bag down on the bed and looked around the room that obviously belonged to a young middle school boy with its strange mix of sports memorabilia and dinosaurs.

"Uum.. I'll let you get settled in and stuff while I go grab the movies from my room next door."

Once he left, Tina took out some of her clothes and put them neatly into the empty drawer that was left open for her. She pulled out her little zipped toiletry bag and headed towards the bathroom to leave it on the sink. The bathroom looked like the kind that connected in the middle between the room she was in and Artie's room. She opened the bathroom door and took a step in but was immediately taken aback by what she saw.

This was like no bathroom she'd ever been in.

It was large enough for what she presumed was so Artie could maneuver his wheelchair around in it easily enough. But there was a strange contraption surrounding the toilet. It was a raised plastic seat on top of the regular toilet seat and it had big bars going all around it. Then in the shower was a long plastic bench that sat over the side of the tub and inside it with a bunch of metal bars installed into the walls.

Tina had never really given a thought as to how hard Artie must have it just to accomplish simple daily tasks in the restroom. She suddenly had a new appreciation for the fact that she could just hop into the shower quick and easy or do her bathroom business without a second thought. Suddenly, the opposing door to the bathroom swung open and Artie was on the other side staring at her staring at the toilet.

"I thought I heard you in here. Uuh.. I just wanted to let you know, you don't have to use this bathroom.. I know it's a little weird looking and might make you uncomfortable using it but.. uum.. my parent's said it's fine if you use the one in their bedroom," he spoke with a low voice, his eyes darting back and forth. Tina could tell he was obviously embarrassed.

"Don't worry. T-t-his will be just fine. New experiences are always a good thing, r-right?" She told him with a reassuring smile, despite the fact that she _was_ kind of unsure how to use it.

They could tell it was starting to get late by looking out the small bathroom window, the sun was setting and the sky started to become dark. They made their way back to the living room, with Artie holding the small stack of DVDs on his lap. Pulling up to the coffee table, he spread the movies out so she could read the titles.

"My dad let me rent a bunch of movies for this weekend. I got slapstick, horror, action, sci-fi, and.. romantic comedy. Ha! Don't know how _that _one snuck in there," nervously slipping the DVD under a nearby magazine.

Tina laughed out loud at this.

"How about a horror? I love scary movies!"

"Yeah, sure!" Artie grabbed the case to 'A Haunting in Connecticut' and started to set it up in the DVD player.

"If you want, you can go change into your pajamas and get comfy. Our electronics are kinda crappy and take me a while to figure them all out."

"Okay, sure." Tina went back to her temporary room to change her clothes. It only took her a couple minutes to get ready and she made her way back out into the living room where Artie was frustratingly pounding on the top of the TV in hopes of making it work better.

Just as he was about to pound his fist down on it again he glanced towards where Tina had just come back in and paused. His eyes were glued on her. She was wearing dark blue boxer-like shorts decorated with white stars with a matching low cut, lacy tank top. She had wiped off all her makeup and tied up her long hair, revealing slender shoulders and a small round chest.

Now, this wasn't the first time Artie had noticed just how beautiful Tina could really be. Numerous times in the pass he had always wanted to compliment her but was always too nervous to say so.

But right now- right now he was speechless. It took all his effort to tear his eyes away from her petit figure and turn back to setting up the movie, all the while hoping she didn't notice him gaping at her.

"How about I try and work on getting it to work and you can go get comfy yourself?" she strode over quickly and squatted down next to him and started pushing buttons on the TV, keeping her head down all the while.

"G-good luck with that!" he nervously jested as he went back to his room to change also.

As soon as Artie's hastily retreating figure was out of her vision, she plopped onto the floor with a slight thump and held her hands to her red tinted face.

'Did Artie just check her out?!'

Her face felt all hot from blushing so much. She didn't know what to think about the obvious stares that Artie had just given her.

Sure, she had always had some flirtatious thoughts in the past about him. They always hung out at school and afterwards at Glee Club, but she was always too shy to ever think anymore than that. She thought Artie was a pretty handsome guy, despite the chair and even if he was a bit of a dork at times. But when she had stood there at that moment, with his eyes scanning her up and down, she couldn't help but feel a little tickle in her stomach.

After finally figuring out the TV and DVD player and getting the movie to the menu screen, she sat down on the couch and grabbed a nearby throw-pillow and held it on her lap while she waited.

Artie took a while to get changed and finally made his way back after ten or fifteen minutes, wearing his favorite t-shirt with the faded Rolling Stones image on it and gray sweatpants.

"Sorry I took so long. Just takes me a while.."

"Oh, d-don't worry. But hey look! I got it to work," she cheerfully spoke as she pointed to the frightening images flashing on the screen.

"Awesome! I always have trouble getting it to work."

He rolled his chair up to the couch, set the breaks to the wheels and lifted and pulled his limp lower body onto the couch next to her in one swift movement. Tina stared in fascination as he did so, but quickly looked away. This was the first time she'd ever seen Artie out of his wheelchair and she was surprised at how limber yet strong he was to move the way he did. Picking up the remote he pressed play and they sat in silence as the movie began.

Suddenly noticing that the volume on the surround sound stereo wasn't near loud enough and the stereo remote was sitting on the bottom shelf of the entertainment center, he scooted himself forward on the couch and quickly but tenderly lowered himself onto the floor.

"W-w-what are you doing?!" Tina asked in shock when she suddenly noticed he was no longer sitting next to her but on the floor.

"Need to crank the volume up," he replied as he pointed towards the remote. He began pulling his body backwards towards the short distance across the floor from the couch to the TV.

Tina found herself once again watching him move awkwardly but still quite naturally, for him at least, and a sudden thought popped into her head. She finally realized the reason as to why Artie always dressed so funnily but cute in a way; with the belts AND suspenders usually holding his pants up even though he was always stuck sitting down. If that was her right now, her pants probably would have slid down to her knees by now with all the scooting he was doing across the carpet- only now the tight elastic on his sweatpants were saving him tonight.

The silly and random thought totally invaded her imagination and she started to giggle under her breathe. Artie turning his head back towards the dark haired Asian on the couch as he started to pull himself back up with the remote balanced on his lap and looked at her with a quizzical expression.

"What's so funny?"

"Oh nothing, nothing. J-just thinking this weekend _might_ not be as weird as I thought it w-was going to be."

Artie shrugged and laughed a little along with her, still not really understanding what was going on in that head of hers.

Just as he turned the volume up, the doorbell rang. Tina jumped up and hurried to the door, grabbing the money off the nearby table that Artie's mom had left them. Paying for their food, she set them down on the coffee table in front of the couch and sat back down. They both dove right in, eating pizza and watching their scary movie.

They both didn't think the movie was as scary as others had led them to believe but found themselves still jumping a little bit now and then.

Eventually, Tina's eyes started to get heavy and she started to sink into the soft couch more and more as the movie got towards the end. Suddenly, she was out like a light and her body had slumped to the side.

Artie looked over at the slumbering face of the black and blue haired girl as she slowly fell more and more towards his welcoming shoulder. He watched her breathe slowly through her slightly parted lips and he reached up with a shaky hand and pushed back a few strands of hair that had fallen out of the ponytail into her face.

Smirking as he stared back at the rolling credits to the movie he though to himself, 'Yeah, maybe this weekend won't be _that_ weird.'

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**Author notes: I am SO sorry that it took me so very long to update- but I made it extra long to make up for it. Got caught up in college projects and busy life x_x Hope you all enjoyed this! (ps. Sorry for any strange formatting in the paragraphs. I tried to break them up enough so it would be easier on the eyes, but sometimes my computer can just be dumb and make things look weird)**

**Oh, and please, oh please leave me some reviews v^__^v it always makes any small-time author uber happy to read 'em. Heck, I'd be happy with 1 or 2 word responses- just wanna know how you guys feel about this chapter. Thanks for reading! Go Tartie!!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Title: Sleepovers - ch.3**

**Summary: Tina gets to see what Artie's home life is like after their parents suddenly go away on a vacation together, leaving the two young Gleeks home alone for a three-day weekend.**

**Author: Charlie-chan**

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Tina woke up the next morning with a horrible kink in her neck from the way she had fallen asleep the night before. Her eyes fluttering open, she began stretching her arms and legs, kicking off the conveniently placed blanket that she didn't remember falling asleep with. Sitting up from the couch she looked around, blinking the sleep from her eyes. Judging from the amount of morning sunlight drifting through the blinds she guessed it was still quite early. Crawling off the couch she groggily looked around the living room and saw Artie was no where to be found.

Tina wandered back to her temporary bedroom, stumbling down the hallway from still being half asleep. Entering the room and heading to the bathroom she began to do her business- grateful for the bars around the toilet to hold onto as she yawned loudly to herself. After washing her hands she started back into her bedroom when she suddenly turned back around to the opposing door when she heard a soft grunt come from the other side. As quietly as she could muster, she turned the handle and edged the door open enough so that she could peek in. It was the first time she'd seen the inside of Artie's bedroom and she was a little nervous to be spying into his personal space.

His room was fairly neat for boys their age and was decorated with various geek-worthy memorabilia. Various movie posters dotted his walls and he had a few shelves full of action figurines on display. His electric guitar equipment sat in the corner next to a chair-less desk with a laptop perched on top.

Her eyes finally met a slowly breathing figure under a pile of comforters on his bed with his wheelchair parked right up next to it. Tapping her knuckles on the door, she leaned into the room more and whispering a call out to him.

"Artie? … you awake yet?"

His face was squished into a pillow since he was laying on his stomach and she could barely hear his reply. "Mmm..shsorda.."

Giggling to herself she threw the door open and walked over to his window and pulling the blinds open to shed some morning sunlight into his room. Gasping, he took the pillow out from under his face and threw it over his head with a grunt.

"O~bviously not a morning person, huh?"

"mmNnooo.."

Tina sat down on the edge of his bed and patted the pillow that was covering his head. "Aaw p-poor baby. Well, I just wanted to let you know I'm going to attempt to make us s-some breakfast and to not worry if you hear the fire alarm go off, okay?"

He quickly pulled the pillow off from his head, the static causing his bed-head hair to stand up on end, and turned his head towards her.

"In that case, I think I'll be getting up now. I remember what happened last year in home-ec class," he chastised her with a grin on his face.

She stood up so he could reach over and pull the covers off his body. Standing back, she watched as he pushed his arms off the bed to lift his torso and turn over while at the same time reaching one arm down to flip his legs around with the rest of his body. He scooted himself to the edge of the bed and pulled his legs over the edge into a sitting position. After balancing himself upright he transferred over to his chair with a tired grunt. After settling himself into his chair and grabbing his glasses from the bedside table he looked up at her and spoke with a yawn.

"You know, you are a reeeaal deep sleeper. I tried to wake you up after the movie so you could go sleep in a nice comfy bed but you just wouldn't budge. So I just covered you up and went to bed. I hope you didn't mind. I can't sleep on the couch- too many pressure points are bad for my legs.."

She automatically took her place behind his wheelchair and started pushing him out to the kitchen area.

"Oh no, t-that's fine. Once I'm asleep, I'm basically dead to the world," she said with a laugh.

She let go of his chair once they arrived in the kitchen and went to open the fridge. Finding and taking out a carton of eggs and some butter she placed them on the counter and stared at them with such an intense look of concentration it made Artie laugh out loud.

"You really have no idea what you're doing, do you?" He rolled over to the cupboard next to the oven and took out some pans. "How about I make us breakfast and you can go take a shower and get ready for the day?"

Tina's cheeks flushed with a pink tinge as she nodded and turned around to head back to the bathroom.

Artie could only laugh at her embarrassment. He remembered last year they had an actual fire alarm situation at school- fire department and all, not one of those annoying bi-yearly drills they forced everyone to go through. And it was all because of a small fire in the home economics room. Supposedly, someone accidentally caught a pan of cupcakes on fire which led to the stove becoming a blaze and caused the entire school to evacuate as the black smoke filled the connecting hallways. Tina had admitted she was at fault a couple months after they all started to get to know each other in Glee Club; which causes Artie instant amusement at the thought of her horrendous baking skills almost burning the school down.  
Surprisingly, himself on the other hand, was actually rather handy in the kitchen. Back when the accident had first happened he was stuck spending a lot of time indoors with his mom as he fully recovered. Since his mom was a fabulous chef at home, he would sit in the kitchen and watch her scurry around every day cooking up a storm to vent her obvious frustrations at their situation after the crash. He caught onto a lot as he watched her and it gave him something to do and distract himself from the sadness of his accident. Not long after that, his mom made sure to put most of the cooking supplies in the lower cabinets and they even bought one of those fridges that had the freezer on the bottom half so that he could reach everything on his own. It was those little acts his parents did for him that made him so grateful to have them in his life.

As Tina stood in the shower washing her hair, after cautiously pulling the plastic bench out and setting it aside to give her more room to stand, she couldn't help but smile to herself.

She still couldn't get over the fact that she was in Artie Abrams house, currently stark naked, and actually enjoying her time being here. It was surprising how natural she felt being around him in a non-school environment. And since they were basically playing "house" this weekend, she couldn't help but try and let loose, have fun and be herself around him. This wasn't the time to act like her usual shy-girl self like she usually was at school. Rinsing the suds off her hair and body, she got out of the shower and dried herself off with the towel that was left for her on the sink the night before she was guessing. She replaced the shower bench back into its original position and went back to her room to change; thinking to herself that the bathroom wasn't as intimidating as she had first thought it would be.

They both practically devoured the huge 'lumberjack' breakfast that Artie had prepared for them. Tina couldn't help but keep praising him for his fantastic cooking skills as she went for her third serving of French toast and bacon.  
Covering her mouth with her hand since it was still partially filled with food she forced a semi-audible question out.

"Sho, whad joo whanna jdo chtoday?" But after seeing his face go into an amused yet confused expression she swallowed and retried.

"S-sorry, heheh. What do you wanna do today?"

"Hmm.. I was thinking we take advantage of the nice weather and go for a walk in the park that's nearby. And if we time it just right, we could grab some delicious frozen treats from the local ice cream man that hangs around there in the afternoons," he said with a wink in her direction.

Tina's face lit up. Artie knew her biggest weakness was her sweet tooth.

"But first," he comically sniffed his underarm, "I think I should head to the shower myself. It.. takes me a bit longer than usual to do my bathroom business.. So.. I left my laptop on the coffee table for you to play with while you wait. I hope you don't mind." He nervously glanced down in his lap. He didn't know why but having someone that wasn't his family have to wait around for him because it took him extra long to accomplish even the smallest tasks at home kind of embarrassed him.

Seeing his slight discomfort Tina waved her hand in the air, "Oh d-don't worry about it. I needed to check me email and stuff anyways. Take your t-time. I'm in no rush. Plus, while you do that, I'll have plenty of time to do the dishes as a thank you for the am-maaazing breakfast you made us," winking at him as she stood up and started gathering their dirty plates.

As Artie sat in the shower, finished scrubbing and was now rinsing his body clean he couldn't help but stop whatever he was doing and just stare ahead, his face and right down to his gut felt red hot from the dirty images invading his mind. He never in his young life thought he would be sitting here naked where Tina had been naked barely an hour ago. His face blushed as he reached over to the tub nozzle and changed the water to the cold setting and tried to drive those dirty thoughts out of his head, especially since it was more mental than physical action that caused him to become aroused in his current condition.

When he had finished all up in the bathroom he wheeled himself back into his bedroom and laid his clothes and shoes on his bed he hopped back onto the bed and began getting changed. From a distance he could hear the faints sounds of his media player on his computer blasting music. Tina must have found his mp3 folder on there while she waited for him.

Just as he pulled one of his legs over onto his lap so he could put on his shoe, a knock came from his door.

"Almost done! But you can come in if you want," he called out.

Tina slowly opened the door, her hand over her eyes but fingers spread out enough so that she could peek through them and a smirk on her face.

"Oh, come on. I'm just putting on my shoes now." Laughing as he reached over for his other leg and shoe.

Tina walked over and leaned against his desk.

"While you were getting ready, Mercedes texted me. She wanted to know if I wanted to hang out with her and Kurt today. I wrote her back that I was hanging with you and told her we could meet up at the park to hang for the afternoon. I hope that was alright?"

Artie looked slightly disappointed at first. He was kind of hoping it would just be the two of them strolling through the park alone but he quickly changed his mind. He can't hog Tina the _entire_ weekend, now can he?

"Oh, no. That sounds cool!" he replied with a smile, "But wait.. Did you tell them about how you're sleeping over at my house this weekend?"

Tina suddenly blurted back, "No way! I mean.. not that this weekend isn't going great but.. don't you think it would be a little weird for others to know the situation our crazy parents threw us into? I think we should keep that part to ourselves for now," she ended with a wink in his direction.

"Yeah, I guess you're right. We probably wouldn't hear the end of it at Glee Club. Especially if it were known to two of the biggest gossipers in school."

As they made their way to the park, Tina casually pushed Artie's wheelchair and was taking in deep breathes of fresh air.

"The weather is SO nice today, isn't it? I c-can't remember the last time it was so refreshing outsi-," but she was cut off as her body collided with the back of Artie's suddenly stopped chair. Looking down she saw his hands holding the wheels back.

"Artie, what's wrong?"

He turned his head around and looked up at her with a sincere smile on his face.

"Nothing, I just.. I'd rather have you walk besides me and talk. I never really get the chance to see your face when we walk together and you sound so cheerful right now."

Tina was taken aback by his words. She never really thought much about how she was always behind him, pushing his chair throughout the school hallways nearly everyday. It was just an automatic reaction ever since they started becoming friends. He never really seemed to mind before now. But he was right. It was a beautiful day outside, she was feeling very cheerful and she'd rather be able to glance down and see his face instead of the back of his head.

They continued on their way to the park with her walking at a slightly slow pace and him pushing his wheels to keep up next to her. Glancing towards each other every so often, both of them smiling and talking excitedly, neither would say it out loud but they both felt extremely content and full of bliss at the moment. They just didn't want the weekend to end any time soon.

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**Author's Notes: Hooray! Yet another chapter done! I'm sorry it takes me sooo long to update. I'm a horrible procrastinator plus a busy student.**

**But I also have been working on a couple other Glee related things.**

_**Insert shameless self plug: Glee Fanart! **_chibicharlie-chan. deviantart . com /art/GLEEKS-143312255 _** (just take out the spaces in the link- hopefully this site won't mess it up too bad..)**_

**But how do you think the story is coming along? I'm trying to take it eeeextraaa slow with these two (Tartie-ness must not be rushed ;D). Also, I'm not going to get into Tina's stutter in this story (though I have been slowly diminishing it as the story goes on- maybe Artie will just think it's lessened cause she's more comfortable around him?) but they will eventually get to a first kiss and stuff. So it's kinda cannon but not really. **

**I love reviews, btw! :D thanks for reading y'all!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Title: Sleepovers - ch.4**

**Summary: Tina gets to see what Artie's home life is like after their parents suddenly go away on a vacation together, leaving the two young Gleeks home alone for a three-day weekend.**

**Author: Charlie-chan**

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They both sat there in silence, slowly eating their frozen treats as they waited for their friends, Kurt and Mercedes, to meet up with them at the park.

Tina excitedly licked her vanilla-strawberry swirl ice cream cone that Artie had just bought her. She felt like a little kid, sitting on a park bench and cheerily swinging her legs back and forth. She glanced over at her wheel-bound companion that was parked next to the bench and smiled. She didn't fully know why, but lately she just felt a surge of tingles in her gut whenever she saw him flash that great big smile of his at her.

Taking one more big lick from her cone, she scooted closer to the edge of the bench that was closest to where he sat and leaned over to talk.

"I w-wonder what's taking them so long. They said they'd be here over twenty minutes ago," she suddenly giggled to herself, "I wouldn't d-doubt if they're both still standing in front of a mirror, trying to figure out what to wea-.."

She was suddenly cut short as she felt Artie's thumb suddenly on her chin. Pulling back, her eyes wide in surprise and cheeks tinged in pink, she stared at him not knowing what to say.

"S-sorry, you had a little ice cream.. on your face.." Clearing his throat and wiping the small remnants of vanilla-strawberry on the side of his jeans he looked around nervously.

She slowly lifted her hand to where his thumb had just touched moments earlier and lightly ran her fingertips over the spot.

"T-t-thanks.." she spoke with a low voice and a smirk on her face.

Clearing his throat again, he looked up at her again to say something when a sudden, loud booming voice broke through the air, causing them both to jump in their seats.

"There they at!"

They both turned and looked behind them seeing Mercedes pointing in their direction and Kurt walking swiftly besides her.

"Sorry we're late. I couldn't get white boy over here to leave his mirror any sooner," she boisterously said as she gestured to the fashionably dressed boy next to her.

Tina smirked at Artie with an 'I told you so' look.

Kurt walked over to them and gave them each a greeting with a quick hug, "Don't believe her. She's just talking nonsense. I wasn't the only one glued to the mirror," he jokingly rebutted with a wink in her direction.

Tina and Artie both rolled their eyes and laughed as they watched their two friends playfully argue; their minor ice cream incident being purposefully set aside for the moment.

During the next few hours, the four young Glee clubbers had an enjoyable afternoon. They wandered around the park, sat and talked gossip for a while, joked around and even belted out a few tunes, much to the amusement of passing park goers.

Standing up in front of their small group, Mercedes made a sudden announcement.

"Guys, I don't know 'bout you all, but I am starving. Hows about we head across the street and grab something to eat?"

Kurt was the first to protest this idea.

"But the closest place to eat is a McDonalds. And I am _so_ not destroying the last two months of my new diet by indulging on super grease and carb-filled patties of meat."

"Well, we all can't fit in my small car to go anywhere else, especially if we got Artie's wheelchair," she replied slightly aggressively, pointing over to a seemingly embarrassed looking Artie, "I knew we shoulda taken your car if we knew we were hangin' with them today."

Sensing Artie's discomfort, they both stared at each other and had what could only be deemed as a psychic conversation or a stare down of sorts when Kurt sighed and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Well, I guess I could just order a salad or something light," turning on his heel and walking in the direction of the fast food establishment he called over his shoulder, "Let's go before I change my mind."

As they started to make their way towards the road, Mercedes walked behind Artie and took a hold of his wheelchair handles, pushing him. She leaned over to speak in his ear.

"I'm really sorry if I offended you earlier. I really didn't mean it that way."

He turned his head to look back at her and with his usual cheerful exterior he reassured her it was no problem.

As they enjoyed their fattening meals, which Kurt constantly reminded them with nearly every bite they took, they continued discussing school gossip; ranging from the usual baby drama to myths and horror stories about Coach Sylvester.

Laughing at a particularly unbelievable tall tale about the origins of Coach Tanaka's gym shorts, Tina reached her hand over to their shared pile of French fries on the middle of the table just as Artie was doing the same. Their fingers brushed over each others and they both retracted their hands into their laps with lightening speed and glanced in opposite directions, faces beat red.

Kurt and Mercedes rolled their eyes towards each other and had matching smirks on their faces.

With his elbows on the table and resting his chin in his hands, Kurt leaned in with a sly grin on his perfectly moisturized face.

"Sooo, what are your plans for the rest of this weekend? Are you two planning," glancing back and forth between their red faces, "anything special with each other or.." his voice trailing off.

Almost simultaneously they both squeaked out a hasty "no!" and "nothing!". Stealing quick awkward glances to one another they both knew they had to keep up their rouse, especially from these two gossip mongers. They just couldn't let Kurt and Mercedes know they were spending the entire weekend alone together. And especially after today's reoccurring accidental touches that they both knew were making them feel strange feelings they weren't exactly sure how to explain.

Just then, a serendipitous moment had occurred. Mercedes' Iphone suddenly beeped loudly through the silent air. Glimpsing at the message that popped up, she informed the other three as to what it said.

"Hey guys, the weather alert on my phone is telling me that there's gonna be a huge monsoon rolling into town soon. I hate to cut this short, but I don't like to drive in the rain and I still gotta take Kurt back home."

Artie starts gathering the trash onto their tray, "Are you serious? The weather has been exceptionally wonderful today for once. This sucks.."

"T-then I guess we should all get going before we get caught up in it," Tina quickly says as she spies dark clouds rolling in from the distance through the large window. She stands up and takes hold of Artie's wheelchair handles, "I'll _take _Artie home then."

Mercedes and Kurt exchange looks again. They could obviously tell there was something more going on with their two friends but knew they wouldn't make them crack and spill the beans any time soon.

After they threw away their garbage they all made their ways back to the park, Mercedes and Kurt heading back towards the parking lot where they left their car. But before they got too far away, Artie suddenly stopped rolling along side them and they all stopped and turned around to see what was the matter.

Glancing over each side of his chair to see what made his wheels stop turning but not being able to see from his position he looked up at his three friends with a quizzical look upon his face, his eyes settling on Tina's strange expression that looked like a mix between amusement and slight pity. She walked back over to him, kneeled in front of him and got to work.

"Uuh, mind telling me what you're doing down there?" He asked with an amused pitch to his voice, trying to lean forward as much as he could to see over his knees.

She held up the end of what he could only presume was his own shoelace and smiled up at him."Your shoelaces must have come undone and it got tangled in the small wheel up front. And uum.. it pulled your foot off the foot pedal…," her hand wavering around his leg, wondering if it would be too forward of her to just lift it back up into place.

"Oh.. Oh! Yeah uum.. here." He took a hold of his left leg and pulled it back into place, his foot settling in its usual crooked position when his lifeless leg falls naturally to the side a bit.

Tina straightening out the pristine white laces and began tying them without a word, her face being covered by her hair as she bowed her head. Finishing the knot she stood up and quickly took her place behind his chair, her hair still obstructing her face, which was quickly turning a bright shade of pink.

Their two spectators to the whole incident just stood there, arm in arm, faces scrunched up holding back a fit of the giggles. They quickly turned around and continued on their way to the parking lot, waving over their shoulders; Mercedes calling out for Tina to text her when she got home safely.

Just as they got out of earshot they both burst out laughing, leaning into each other for support.

"Oh man, they got it and they got it bad!"

Kurt nodding in agreement and wiping a tear of laughter from his eye, "If something doesn't happen between them soon, I think we're going to have to stage an intervention."

Artie and Tina stand back and watch their two friends walk away and then spastically start waving their arms around in a giddy fashion from afar. Without a word to each other, Tina turns his chair around and heads the opposite direction back towards Artie's home. Peering up into the quickly darkening sky, Artie sighs heavily.

"I wish we could have stayed out longer. It really was such a nice day. But at least we had fun and got out of the house for a bit, right?" He glanced up at Tina's partially covered face, she nodding in agreement.

Just as they were turning the corner to his street, a light drizzle of rain started to fall. They both yelled out in surprise and laughter and Tina began hastening her pace forward, pushing Artie along faster, him shielding his glasses with his spare hand and getting the house key out of his pocket with the other.

Unlocking the door and stumbling inside they slammed the door shut and started laughing heartily.

"Guess we weren't fast enough!"

"I'll go grab us some towels to dry off with," the wheel bound boy made his way to the linen closet and grabbing a couple small towels from the lower shelves, handing one over to the raven haired girl.

Artie took off his glasses, placing them on his lap and started rubbing his head dry with the towel. Tina slowly raised the towel up to her face but stopped and just stared at the boy in front of her.

She just couldn't stop thinking about the few incidents that had occurred earlier today; the thoughts caused her stomach to do a few jittery flips. The smooth touch of his thumb on her cheek, fingers gently making contact over French fries or her wanting to take a hold of his leg while she fixed his shoe. They were just small touches here and there but every time it happened, she felt a small surge of sparks run through her body. This whole weekend had caused her to see him in a whole new light and it was making her body act weird and she just couldn't understand the reason why. Was she developing feelings that were more than friendship towards him?

As she stood there thinking to herself, she noticed Artie was staring at her staring at him. She quickly threw the towel over her head and began hastily drying her hair.

"I-I'm going to go change," she scurries off to her bedroom, towel hanging off her head.

Artie watched her leave, his eyes automatically staring down at her butt as she hurries away but snapping his eyes away when he realizes what he's doing.

He didn't know why but this weekend had made his small puppy crush on his friend just explode with weird feelings that he couldn't even fathom.

When they were eating their ice cream earlier and he had wiped the small remnants of her frozen treat off her chin he hadn't even realized what he was doing until she nervously pointed it out. Her skin was so soft under his touch and he felt a surge of warmth spread through his hand at the brief contact. The same was said when they brushed fingers while eating.

He wondered if she felt the same when they touched. But then his thoughts went in a negative direction. Why would a beautiful girl like Tina ever want to be more than friends with someone like him? Sure, she had never let the fact that he was in a wheelchair keep her away but could she ever have more intimate feelings towards him?

Sighing and running his gloved hands through his semi-wet hair he made his way back to his bedroom to change also.

* * *

**Author's Notes: Sorry once again for my slow updates! I'm working as much as I can in what little free time I have. **

**So what do you think of this chapter? I decided to bring them out into the world and get them out of that stinkin house for a little bit and I just HAD to get some Kurt and Mercedes in there (LOVE those two). They are so much fun to write when they're girly bickering at each other, hehe. **

**But boy, oh boy- is this story turning into pure fluff or what?? I promise they will be getting more romantic next chapter! *hintKissKisshint* **

**On a side note- Finn, you have forever ruined the word 'drizzle' for me, LOL! **

_**==Another**_** shameless plug insert: ****TARTIE FANART! Haha (yet another reason why I was slow to update, sorry!) **

**http:// chibicharlie-chan. deviantart. com/art/Glee-TARTIE-144839166**** (just take the spaces out of the URL link) I sent this to Jenna U. and Kevin M. (like the last one) and Jenna replied again! OMG totally made my day! She loved it and told me Happy Holidays, hehe *dies*== **

**Thanks to everyone who comments, alerts and favorites this little ol' story of mine! Means SO much to me! :D thanks for reading!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Title: Sleepovers - ch.5**

**Summary: Tina gets to see what Artie's home life is like after their parents suddenly go away on a vacation together, leaving the two young Gleeks home alone for a three-day weekend.**

**Author: Charlie-chan**

* * *

They had both ended up just changing into their pajamas since they weren't planning on leaving the house for the rest of the day. The raging storm that was brewing outside sure saw to that.

Artie had suggested they just chill and could play some video games in his room until they got hungry later.

Artie rolled up to his dresser that doubled as a makeshift entertainment center for his bedroom television and picked up two controllers, placing them in his lap and rolling back to where Tina was sitting on his bed. Handing them over to her she stared down at the objects in her hands and looked back up at him with a quirky smile on her face.

"N-Nintendo 64? Really? That is _such_ an old system!" she joked.

"Are you kidding me? This system has always and will always rock! It's got all the classics and the games never get old," he playfully nudged her in the shoulder before he made a second trip back to the TV and turned on the dusty old system and returned to his spot next to her.

"And this game is only one of the most amazing games you will ever play in your life. Believe me, you'll be thanking me later." He gave her a wink and took back one of the controllers as the 'Mario Kart 64' game slowly loaded onto the screen. Tina giggled and tucked her feet under her bottom and leaned forward on the bed, getting into game mode.

They must have played for what seemed like hours before they finally took a break when they both realized how hungry they had gotten when their stomachs started to growl louder than the quirky background music blasting from the television.

"Aahh~ you are just too good at this game! N-no fair!" Tina playfully chastised him as she tossed the controller to the side of the bed and flopped down on her back.

"Well, I've had a lot of practice. Back when I first got into my accident.." his voice suddenly lost its playful tone, "I must have spent nearly half a year of not being able to do anything but recover at home or physical therapy at the hospital. My dad ended up buying me this so I could distract myself from the long boring days of laying in bed all the time.. But at the time we didn't have much spare money to spend because it all went to my medical bills so this was the only system he could afford since it was already a few years dated by then."

Tina had slowly sat up and was staring intently into Artie's ash-fallen face while he told his story. She had never really given much thought to how long, hard and lonely his recovery must have been all those years ago; especially since he was still just a small boy at the time. She hesitantly reached a hand out and rested it on top of the sullen boy's hand that was resting in his lap.

"Well, if it's any consolation, you were right. That game was one of the most fun I've ever played," she kindly spoke as her hand tightened around his.

Artie glanced up and stared transfixed at her soft and beautiful face, seeing his reflection staring back at him in the dark pools of her eyes. He started to part his lips to say something when a loud gurgling noise broke through the tense, quiet air. They both broke eye contact and looked down at Tina's stomach and started to bust out laughing.

Clearing her throat and wiping some tears out of her eyes with her spare hand and removing the other from Artie's, Tina stood up from the bed and walked behind his chair, grabbing a hold of the handles.

"Well, THAT was embarrassing. I think we should go order some dinner, don't you think?"

Artie hunched over in his chair, still laughing wildly as Tina brought them into the kitchen.

"Hahahah! Oh man, I'm so sorry, Tee. But the timing was just hilarious."

"Ha. Ha." She sarcastically replied as she handed him the phone.

He ordered them a wide variety of Chinese food from the local buffet and hung the phone back on the receiver.

"They said it will be here in twenty minutes or else it's free. Pretty sweet deal. Let's just hope the delivery boy hits all the red lights on his way here, right?"

Tina smiled back at him and chuckled. As corny as most of his jokes were, she still found herself laughing at them.

"Well, I'm actually kinda tired from today," she says with an exaggerated stretch with her arms, "How about we end the night with dinner and a movie again? A-and I swear I won't fall asleep at the end this time."

"Oh yeah, sure," he says while checked the time on his cell phone, "Uum, I actually.. I have to use the restroom for.. a while, but you can pick a movie and get it started without me. The DVDs are still on the coffee table I think," he gestures towards the living room and turns his chair quickly around and heads back to his bedroom. Tina watches him leave and listens to the soft squeak of his wheels as he rolls down the hallway and hears his bedroom door close and lock.

'Well that was a little weird', she thought with a shrug. The black haired girl wandered into the living room, sitting on the couch and leans over the table, reading the DVD titles. Not really feeling in the mood for any of the movies until she remembered the one that Artie had slipped under the magazine the night before. Sliding the magazine over and revealing a lone DVD case with the title 'Blind Dating', she picked it up and read the description on the back after not recognizing it.

It seemed to be a romantic comedy that was about a young blind guy who finds love with an Indian girl after many hilarious misshapen dates.

Tina lifts her gaze from the DVD case she was holding and stares off into the space in front of her, wild thoughts swirling around in her mind.

A story about a guy with a disability falling in love with an Asian girl? Sure it wasn't their situation exactly but the eerily similar allusions made her kind of wonder if he had really gotten this movie by mistake or not.

Shrugging it off she got up and popped the movie in and got the somewhat junky TV working right away. About fifteen minutes into the movie, the doorbell rang and she jumped up from the couch and exchanged their money for the bags of steaming hot Asian food. She set all the food out on the table in front of the couch and sat back and started eating without a second thought. She was so entranced by the movie that she didn't even realize when fifteen minutes had turned to nearly forty-five minutes. It wasn't until a scene where the blind boy kisses the main love interest for the first time does she feel a strange fluttering feeling in her gut as she suddenly imagines herself as that girl and Artie as that boy because of their similar situations. Only then does she realize just how far into the movie she was and Artie was still not back. Pressing pause on the remote she stood up and walked back towards Artie's bedroom. She leaned her ear up against the cold wood of the door and listened but heard nothing. Slightly worrying she hurriedly wrapped her knuckles against the door and called out to him.

"A-artie? Is everything okay? It's been a while since you left and.. I'm starting to get worried."

"Sorry! I'm almost finished.. I'll be out there soon." She heard his distant voice call out. Pulling away from the door feeling just as confused to his prolonged absence as she was before she went back to the living room and continued watching the movie.

A few minutes later Artie finally came rolling back into the living room, his cheeks slightly red and lips pursed into a shy pout. Tina turned around from the couch and watched him pull his chair up and transfer onto the cushion next to her. He reaches over and grabs some of the food and settles back into the couch.

"Sorry I took so long," he takes a bite of an egg roll, "Is this movie good?" he questions not quite recognizing which one it was yet.

Tina stares at him with her eyebrows knitted into a questioning expression, "Is everything okay? You were in there for a _really_ long time."

He sheepishly looks down in his lap.

"Oh, no, don't worry. Everything's fine. It just.. takes me a while to do some of my business."

Tina still not quite grasping what he was saying she tilts her head to the side.

"You know.. uum.. Let's just say it takes me extra long to do my number twos, if ya get my drift." He can't believe the words are even leaving his mouth.

Because of his condition, he has to use various techniques to complete a bowel movement, such as specifically scheduled bathroom breaks and other more _intrusive _methods. He was often told by his doctors that there was nothing to be embarrassed about since this was just the natural way that people with his disability have to learn to deal with the rest of their lives. But the fact that he was mentioning it to the cute girl that sat next to him was still making him feel a little embarrassed even though he knew he shouldn't.

Tina finally catching his drift turns her head back to the TV screen with a quick squeak of an "Oh!".

They finish eating and watching the movie together in silence; the only noise being the falling rain making pitter patter sounds against the house, growing stronger as the night went by.

Not much later did the movie finish and all the food they had ordered was devoured completely.

Patting his stomach, Artie turned over towards Tina and yawned.

"I hope you won't mind but I think I might turn in early tonight. Chinese food and being so relaxed practically knocks me out."

"Oh, that's fine. I was starting to feel sleepy too."

Clapping his hands together, "Alrighty then. Let's get a movin'," he scoots his body to the edge of the couch and moves himself into his chair, "We'll just clean up this mess of chopsticks and takeout boxes in the morning."

They make their way to the bedrooms, Tina shutting off the lights on the way, and they each give each other a quick "good night" and disappear into their respective rooms.

Artie settles himself into his bed, taking off his glasses, flipping his body onto his stomach and covering himself with the blankets while he snuggles into his warm pillows. Closing his eyes, his thoughts immediately go to the dark haired girl in the room next door.

He was really surprised that she had chosen _that _movie to watch tonight. After today's numerous close encounters, the last thing he needed to see was the movie that his mother had thrown into his hand basket of rented movies when they were at the store the other day. When he read what the movie was about, he immediately knew his mom was trying to hint at something with it and thought it would be good for him to watch something that he could somewhat relate to. But after watching some of the actual movie with Tina, his earlier thoughts of inadequacy about possible prospects of them ever entering into a relationship of anything that was more than friends seemed _almost _plausible. Neither of them were blind to the sparks that he was sure she had felt between them this weekend and who was to say they couldn't move their friendship into a relationship of sorts.

As his thoughts of the gorgeous Asian girl flooded his mind and the rhythmic sounds of the rain beating against the house, he slowly nodded off into a deep sleep.

In the opposing room, Tina lay flat on her back, hands folded over her stomach and eyes glue to the dark ceiling, her mind was reeling.

She couldn't stop thinking about the boy in the room opposite her in ways she never thought she'd ever think about him.

Earlier, before her stupid stomach rudely interrupted, she had felt such an intimate moment building between them and flashes of a kiss possibly happening right then and there did cross her mind. But who was she kidding? It seemed almost cliché. Boy and girl spend some alone time together and end up falling madly in love with each other. Wait, was she madly in love with Artie? Sure, they were forging a close relationship because of their time in Glee and he was quite handsome and such a kind person. Suddenly, thoughts of her and Artie kissing filled her head and she made a small squeal and turned over in bed and covered her head with a pillow. Just then, a wall rumbling thunder crash broke through the air and practically made Tina jump straight out of bed _and _her skin.

Holding the pillow tighter over her head, Tina suddenly felt like a scared child. Ever since she was little, one of her biggest fears was thunder and lightening. She knew she was technically safe inside the house but the sudden and random loud noises and flashes of light had always got under her skin. So much so that she used to do the classic 'crawl into your parent's bed' deal every time a storm blew into town. Another crash of thunder broke through the air and this time she literally jumped out of bed and headed straight to Artie's door. Slowly pushing the door open just big enough for her to slip through and shut it with a quiet click, she scurried over to the edge of Artie's bed. As she crouched down next to his wheelchair and peered over the side of the mattress she watched his silently slumbering face. She couldn't believe he was sleeping through this storm; and here she thought she was dead to the world when she sleeps. A bright crash of lightening suddenly flashes through the partly opened window and the wind blew the rain even harder against the house caused her to jump again. Leaning onto the mattress Tina whispered with a fright to her slumbering friend.

"A-a-artie? Psst.. Artie. Are you awake? Psssst~" she prodded his shoulder with her finger.

Artie's eyes fluttered open and when they finally opened all the way, the first thing he saw was another face, blurry because of the lack of glasses, mere inches away from his own. Yelping he pulled his head off the pillow and looked around, but calming himself once he realized it was only Tina.

"Tina? What's wrong? Is everything okay?" he asked with worry in his voice.

"Uuum.. Okay.. t-t-this is going to sound _really _dumb.. but.. loud storms scare me…" she replied with her eyes cast embarrassingly to the floor.

Artie couldn't help but smile to himself. Tina looked like a frightened child and it was just too endearing. With a sleepy yawn, he pushed himself up from the bed and turned over, scooting himself to the far side of the mattress as much as he could.

"Well, if you want.. you can lay here until you fall asleep?" he nervously asked as he patted the empty space next to him.

Tina's expression changed from being frightened to almost shocked. Was she really going to sleep in the same bed as Artie? But the next crash of thunder caused her to practically jump _into _the same bed as Artie before she could give it a second thought. Just as she settled herself into the bed and stretched out her body under the comforter, her legs met with something else. She quickly realized that this something else was actually Artie's legs. When he had scooted himself over he must not have realized he didn't pull his legs over all the way with him. But instead of saying anything to him, she found herself halfheartedly wrapping her own legs on top of his. The warmth and connection of someone else's body gave her comfort in her small moment of childhood weakness; plus the fact that it was Artie that she was touching just made her stomach do a couple jittery flips.

"I'm really sorry about this.. I feel like such a stupid little kid," she whispered as she buried her face into one of his pillows.

Reaching over and flipping the blanket over onto her side, covering them both he sweetly smiled at her. Taking a small gulp, he slowly reached his hand over and rested it on the small of her back, since they were both facing each other as they lay on their sides, and started to rub his hand in small comforting circles through the blanket. They lay like that for a few minutes without speaking. As the noises of the storm seemed to finally pass over and the rain started to subside, an eerie silence swept over the room.

They were so close to one another. The small gap between their bodies only crossed from his arm slung over her and her legs secretly entwined with his under the blanket. They lay there in silence, their breathing and the beating of their hearts are the only sounds they manage to hear. Unburying her face from the pillow, Tina slowly looks up towards his face; he's watching her with squinted eyes through the darkness. Scooting herself closer towards his body, closing the small open space between them, she slowly reaches up and rests her hand on the side of his warm face.

Then without even thinking she licks her mouth, leans in and softly places her lips on the side of his face, pecking a small kiss on his cheek then quickly pulling back. Artie's eyes widened with shock. Now _that _he was not expecting her to suddenly do. But before he realized what he was doing, he leaned forward and kisses her on the lips in return. Pulling her closer to him with his hand on her back, he put a little more force into the kiss. Her lips were moist and so soft and he just couldn't let go. Even though he probably couldn't feel it, she pulled her leg over his waist, scooting her body closer into his. Their chests resting flush against each other and their breathing slowly becoming in sync.

She slowly parted her lips open and he gently slipped his tongue in between. Pivoting their heads, they deepened the kiss as they pulled their bodies tighter together, only pulling their mouths apart to take quick gasps of air.

Moving his hand from the small of her back onto her waist he slides his hand slowly up and down to her thigh and back. This causes her to emit a small moan in the back of her throat; he smiles through their kiss at the sounds he was causing her to make.

Her hands slides from his cheek down to his neck and eventually settles on his chest. He may look lean but all those years of being confined to a wheelchair had caused him to have unbelievable upper body strength.

After a few minutes of their impromptu make out session, they finally pulled back, each trying to catch their breath and calm their racing hearts.

"Tina.. I.. wow."

All she could manage was to goofily grin back because she too was at a lost of words. Neither of them could believe what had just happened.

He wrapped his arms around her torso and held her body against his while he rested his chin on the top of her head.

"Thank you."

Tina was taken aback by this comment and pulled her head out from under his chin and looked him in the eye.

"For what?"

"Just.. for everything," he placed a small kiss on her forehead and she smiled so hard that her cheeks hurt.

His hold on her grew stronger and they both laid there in each other's arms until they eventually dozed off to sleep.

His last thought before his mind succumbed to darkness put a smirk upon his face.

'He definitely had to thank their parents tomorrow."

* * *

**Authors Notes: And the kiss (or rather kisses) finally happened! Huzzah! I'm not gonna really go any farther than making out because even though their actors are my age.. their character's are kinda underage and I don't do kiddy porn :P lol! And I made this chapter extra long for all my lovely fans who comment/fav/alert this story of mine. Hope you enjoyed it!**

**On a side note:**** I've done a LOT of research about paraplegia and hope my facts were correct through out the story. I tried to stay vague with some stuff or went all out with other stuff (because come one, this is coming from the kid who told the girl he likes how much use he still has of a certain part of his body, lol) and I thank any of my fans who have left those wonderful comments about people they know or work with that are paralyzed. It really means a lot to me. =)**

**And I also TOTALLY recommend that 'Blind Dating' movie if you haven't seen it yet. It's my ALL time favorite chick flick/romantic comedy and I thought it just seemed too perfect for this story, hehe.**

**Sadly, next chapter will be the last one.. The parentals come home and they have a few more intimate moments with each other before they have to return to school the next day. Hopefully because of this horrible, horrible, HORRIBLE, hiatus I will get it out much sooner than I usually do. ;)**

**Mucho thanks to ****Artemis Rayne**** for funneling her magic updating juices my way ^0^/ hehe!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Title: Sleepovers - ch.6**

**Summary: Tina gets to see what Artie's home life is like after their parents suddenly go away on a vacation together, leaving the two young Gleeks home alone for a three-day weekend.**

**Author: Charlie-chan**

* * *

She awoke with her head slowly bobbing up and down to the rhythm of someone else's breathing. Opening her eyes she realized her head was resting on the nook between Artie's neck and chest. His arms were lightly wrapped around her torso and their legs were still tangled up underneath the sheets. Glancing up towards his face she saw he was still fast asleep with his eyes shut almost lazily. The sound of his breathing was kind of entrancing as it passed in and out of his slightly parted lips, blowing the small hairs hanging over her forehead back and forth. As she laid there and watched his slumbering face, she couldn't help when her lips curled into a self satisfied smirk upon her face.

Was she really laying here in Artie's arms? She couldn't believe how much a difference it was from yesterday morning when she woke up alone on his couch. She tentatively reached her hand up from his chest to pull back his messy bangs that were hanging over his closed eyes. But the moment her slightly chilly fingertips made contact with the skin on his forehead his eyes shot open and his head shuddered. She jumped back a little bit in shock at his sudden wakefulness.

"S-sorry! I didn't mean to wake you."

He glanced down through squinted eyes at the girl that was currently snuggled up to him. He nearly forgot what had happened last night and that they had fallen asleep in each other's arms. He tightened his grip around her torso and rested his head on top of hers. Taking a deep breath in he could faintly smell the scent of his own shampoo from her hair and he smiled to himself.

"That's alright. It was about time I woke up anyways," he mumbled softly while placing a light kiss to the top of her head.

They laid there wrapped in each other's arms for a few minutes in silence when Tina suddenly popped her head out from his chest and leaned back on her elbow so that she was staring straight at him.

"Artie.. about last night.. and.. about.. all of this," she gestured with her free arm to their current predicament, "W-what.. what exactly does this mean for us?"

His eyebrows furrowed and his mouth moved into that cute puckered shape to the side of his face he often did when he was trying to think real hard.

Clearing his throat, he started off slowly, "Well.. I guess.. I mean.. okay," he takes a deep breath and talks with more confidence in his voice.

"Tina, I really, really like you. A lot. I know we haven't known each other that long and this weekend was kind of crazy but.. I think we could possibly.. be something to one another."

Tina stared at him with her eyes wide open and she pulled back from him until she was fully sitting up on the bed, her legs crossed into a pretzel shape and hands wringing nervously in her lap. Artie mimicked her movements as he pushed himself up into a sitting position, wobbling at first but steadying himself out until he was sitting upright next to her.

"Do you-" he stopped himself before he could even start and placed a hand on his forehead with a laugh, "I'm sorry Tee, but if we're going to have this conversation, I think it would go over better if I was able to see you more clearly. Because right now you look like a black and blue blur."

Tina gasps and reaches over to the side table and picks up his thick rimmed glasses and hands them over with a giggle.

He places them onto his face and blinks a couple of times and stares back at her with his lips curled into a big smile.

"Ah~ much better! That blurry mess has become a beautiful girl!" he says with a playful tone to his voice. Tina just as playfully punches him in the shoulder, her cheeks quickly turning a tinge of pink.

Artie reaches over and places his hands on top of hers and smiles sincerely.

"I really do mean it- you are so beautiful." Tina's pink cheeks flush into a deep rouge and she looks down, unable to hide the huge smile plastered to her face.

"A-artie… I think we're getting off subject here," she embarrassingly says as her face feels like it's on fire.

"Heh, yeah, sorry," He rubs the back of his neck and starts again with a more serious tone in his voice, "Tina, do you think you want to.. go out with me?"

Her face lit up immediately and she practically tackled him back down onto the bed causing him to fall back against the pillows with a slight "oomph".

She straddled her legs over his waist and leaned in to kiss him passionately, her fingers running through his hair and his hands placed steadily on her hips as he returned the affection.

Finally pulling back and each gasping for some air they stared into each other's faces until they both broke out into laughter.

"Wow. I guess I'll take that as a 'yes'?" Artie replies as he pushes his skewed glasses back into place on the bridge of his nose.

Breathing heavily, Tina nods and smiles back at him. "Yeah, you can guess that," she says with a giggle and pushes some of her messy bed head hair behind her ears.

With her pelvis resting on his stomach and her legs bent backwards and parallel with his hips, Tina suddenly becomes hyper aware of what position she is currently sitting in. But as she made her way to push off of him onto the empty space on the bed he stops her.

"Wait, please, just stay like this for a while?" He asks so innocently that she is practically in awe at how cute he can be at times. Smiling in return, she leans forward until their chests rest flush against each other and her head is next to his. Artie wraps his arms around her torso and holds her tightly. He sighs contently at the sensation of her breasts resting against his chest. He couldn't help it; he _was _still a hormonal teenage boy.

They continue laying in this position for a while until Tina speaks up.

"Exactly how far down can you feel me right now?"

Artie was kind of taken back by this question. He's never really talked to anyone so intimately about his paraplegia before. Unhooking his hands from around her waist he reaches one hand to his side and slides it under her stomach onto his hip, causing her to giggle and jump a bit at the sudden touch.

"I get feeling back right about here, a little bit above my bellybutton."

Nudging her body closer, she whispers slightly seductively into his ear, "I wish you could feel all of me right now.. your body is so warm and comfy."

Laughing a bit at this he rewraps his arms over her back.

"Whoa, Tee. Getting a little risqué now, aren't cha?" But his voice falls silent for a moment and he speaks again with a more serious tone to his voice. "But yeah.. You don't know how badly I wish I weren't the way that I am; especially right now when I'm with you.."

Suddenly realizing she hit a sore spot she pulls back and puts her hands on either side of his head to hold herself up from him so she was staring directly into his face.

"I-I'm sorry, Artie. I didn't mean it like that.. I like you just the way you are," she leans in for a quick kiss on his lips, "and nothing will ever change that, okay?"

Without warning, his eyes moisten up and small tears form at the corners.

"You are.. unbelievable, Tina. Unbelievably amazing, that is," he reaches his hands up to his face and puts his balled up fists over his eyes, pushing his glasses up on his forehead, in a sad attempt to cover the tears. He couldn't believe how they ended up like this. But the pure happiness that was erupting throughout his entire body caused him to suddenly cry. As embarrassing as it was to be crying in front of his new-found girlfriend, he just couldn't help it. And with that thought, he suddenly started laughing to himself.

Leaning forward, Tina pulls his hands off his face. "What's so funny?"

"I just can't believe I'm crying in front of my girlfriend. I'm such a loser! Hahaha!"

Laughing along with him, "I don't think you're a loser! It's quite endearing actually," she says as she gently wipes her fingers over his eyes then pulling his glasses back down.

Swooping one leg up and over his body she rolls onto the bed and off the edge in one swift motion till she's standing on the floor.

"Alright, _boyfriend_," she smiles at saying this word, "I think it's time we clean ourselves up and get ready before our lovely, yet mildly crazy, parent's come home. They should be here soon I think."

"Okay, okay," sighing and giving in, Artie reaches an arm over towards the edge of the bed to help pull himself up but can't seem to reach.

"Uuh, Tee? Can you help me here a sec? I'm not used to being this far back on the other side of the bed. I can't quite reach."

"Oh, yeah, sure!" She grabs his outreached hand and places a foot up on the edge of the bed for leverage and pulls with all her might till his body scoots closer away from the wall side of the bed, the both of them laughing together.

Pulling himself upright and transferring onto his wheelchair he leans forward and stretches his arms out with a lazy yawn.

"Ya know, I don't think I have ever been more grateful for thunderstorms than I am right now." They both smile and laugh at the strange set of predicaments that led to their surprise hookup last night.

"Me neither," Tina replies as she grabs the back of his chair and pushes him out into the kitchen. "So how about you throw us together a quick breakfast and I'll take first bathroom shift?"

"Oh, so now that we're dating, I'm suddenly your little slave boy?" He asks with an overly dramatic tone.

"Seems that way!" she giggles and scurries off into the hallway before he has a chance to reply.

Artie prepares some toast and cereal for them both and sits at the table and waits for her to come back out. His mind is reeling with images from the last few hours. It was all still quite unbelievable. If someone had told him three days ago that he would be dating Tina Cohen-Chang, he would have laughed in their face. And yet, here they were. A newly found fresh young couple. His body involuntarily shivers with excitement at that thought.

On the other side of the house, Tina steps out of the shower, replacing the shower bench back into position like last time and dries herself off and continues getting ready. While she pulls her black and blue sweater over her head, her body suddenly shudders with excitement. She still can't believe what had happened last night and this morning. It was like she was trapped in some kind of dream; like any moment she would wake up and be alone in her bed. But it wasn't. She had woken up in the strong arms of the boy she was now going to call her boyfriend- which was going to get some taking used to.

When she was finished, she wanders back to the dining room and sits at the table where Artie is patiently waiting.

They eat breakfast in near silence, occasionally glancing up from their food and looking back down quickly and smiling shyly but with a hint of joy.

Here they were, boyfriend and girlfriend, eating their first meal together. It was to be a first of many firsts to come and both of them couldn't have been happier.

* * *

**Author's Notes: Once again, I apologize to all my lovely readers for my super slow updates. I felt like SUCH a bum compared to the amazing amount of updates of certain Glee authors around here this past week- you know who you are, lol! This chapter was done kind of in a haste between working on a huge Glee fanart project and rushing to get ready to go home for the holidays, so sorry for any mistakes and it being slightly shorter than usual.  
**

**But after numerous pleas after my comment last chapter that **_**this **_**one was to be the final chapter, I decided to extend it just ONE more. Only cuz I love you all SO much and truly appreciate all your support of this silly story of mine ;) **

**Enjoy and as always, please review! Thanks to all my fans who have stuck through with me all this time. Mucho love!**

**EDIT: stupid FF was being all kinds of crazy yesterday, and I really hope all the 'updated chapter' alerts were sent out to everyone that has been watching :(  
on another note- finished the first part to my Lil' Gleeks fanart project! **(remove spaces in URL or visit my "homepage" to see it) **chibicharlie-chan . deviantart . com/art/Lil-Gleeks-part-one-147376912**


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